Reconciling resource extraction and species conservation in a multi-use landscape: Immediate and long-term impacts of logging on rainforest mammal diversity

Implications of large-scale infrastructure development for biodiversity in Indonesian Borneo

Indonesia is embarking on an ambitious relocation of its capital city to Kalimantan, Borneo, bringing with it major urban and road infrastructure. Yet, despite being one of the world's most biologically diverse regions, the potential implications of this development for wildlife have yet to be fully assessed. We explored the potential impacts of the capital relocation, and road expansion and upgrades to critical habitat for medium-large mammals (>1 kg) using camera trap data from 11 forested landscapes. We applied Bayesian multi-species occupancy models to predict community and species-level responses to anthropogenic and environmental factors. We extrapolated spatial patterns of occupancy and species diversity across the forests of Kalimantan and identified "critical habitats" as the top 20^th percentile of occupancy and species richness values. We subsequently overlapped these critical habitat layers with infrastructure impact zones to estimate the area that could potentially be affected by direct or secondary impacts. At both the community and species-level, distance to primary roads had the strongest negative influence on habitat-use. Occupancy was also influenced by forest quality and multidimensional poverty conditions in adjacent villages, demonstrating the sensitivity of biodiversity to socio-ecological pressures. Less than 1 % of the critical habitat for the threatened mammal community lay within the direct impact zone (30 km radius) of the capital relocation. However, approximately 16 % was located within 200 km and could potentially be affected by uncontrolled secondary impacts such as urban sprawl and associated regional development. The often-overlooked secondary implications of upgrading existing roads could also intersect a large amount of critical habitat for lowland species. Mitigating far-reaching secondary impacts of infrastructure development should be fully incorporated into environmental impact assessments. This will provide Indonesia with an opportunity to set an example of sustainable infrastructure development in the tropics.

Anthropogenic land-use and environmental factors affecting the species richness and occurrence of carnivores in the Faragosa-Fura Landscape of Southern Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Anthropogenic land-use changes pose significant threats to the diversity and occurrence of wildlife species around the world. We investigated how land-use and environmental factors affect the richness and occurrence of carnivore species in the Faragosa-Fura Landscape of the Southern Rift Valley of Ethiopia. We used the line transect method to collect data, combining three complementary field survey techniques: sign survey, camera trapping, and opportunistic sighting surveys. We confirmed the presence of 12 carnivore species belonging to six families, including the vulnerable Felidae species Panthera pardus. More species were found in the family’s Felidae and Herpestidae, while Hyaenidae and Mustelidae were composed of a single species each. The two large-sized species identified were Panthera pardus and Crocuta crocuta. The species richness was the highest in wetlands, while it was the lowest in the settlement. The occurrence of most carnivores was negatively associated with agricultural land and settlements, while they were positively associated with wetlands and altitude. Genetta genetta had the highest occurrence, while Panthera pardus had the lowest in the area. We concluded that of the studied habitats, wetlands are the most important, and anthropogenic land-uses have a negative impact on species richness. Our findings provide valuable baseline data for stakeholders making critical conservation decisions as well as researchers conducting related ecological studies in a human-dominated landscape. Based on our findings, we propose a basic approach for integrating land management and wildlife conservation.

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